Lubrication of artificial filaments



June 15, 1937. c. o. BUTLER ET AL LUBRICATION OF ARTIFICIAL FILAMENTS Filed Aug. 29, 1935 Cyrus (23 rwd ara$$$r BY W ATTORNEYS.

Patented June 15, 1937 UNITED STATES 7 2,083,635 LUBRICATION or ARTIFICIAL FILAMENTS Cyrus 0. Butler and Ed gar G. Guenther, Kingsport, Tenn., assignors, by mesne assignments,

to Eastmaif'Kodak Co mpany, Jersey City, N.'J.,

a corporation of New Jersey Application August 29, 1935, Serial No. 38,442

6 Claims.

, This invention relates to the manufacture of threads consisting of filaments of cellulose acetate or other cellulose esters, ethers or derivatives and more particularly to a device for lubri l cating these threads or the individual filaments. The purpose of lubricating threads or their individual filaments during their production is well known and will not be discussed further in this specification. Although the lubrication of thread and their filaments, particularly artificial,

is well known, it has always been diflicult to apply just the proper quantity of lubricant to threads because there are so many variables, such as viscosity of the solution to be applied, the speed of application, etc. In the devices used at present for lubricating threads of filaments, the oil film contacted by the filaments is of such a thickness that an objectional drag is produced on the filament and the filament is subjected to an uncontrolled oil film wherein it is not lubricated evenly from inch to inch.

Therefore, one object of our invention is to provide a. device for lubricating artificial filaments wherein the oilfilm contacted by the filament is controlled as to thickness for reducing the drag on said filament to be lubricated thereby. An-

other object is to provide a device in which the,

lubricating film contacting the filament is made uniform prior to being applied to the filament so that the filament is lubricated evenly from inch to inch.

Briefly, this invention consists of any suitable reservoir for the lubricating fluid in which a driven roll is mounted so that its lower portion is immersed in the lubricating fluid so that it picks up a film of said fluid on its surface through capillary attraction. An idler roll is mounted above and in rolling contact with the surface of the driven roll, the supporting means for this idler roll consisting of a bracket having inclined supporting surfaces which act as cam surfaces for the idler roll so that the pressure of contact between the surfaces of the two rolls .is dependent upon the weight of the idler roll. By virtue of the rolling contact between the rolls, the film of lubricant on the idler roll and on that portion of the driven roll following the point of rolling contact will be thinned and made uniform so that when the filament to be lubricated is made to'contact this film of lubricant it will be uniformily lubricated from inch to inch and the drag on said filament will be reduced.

The novel features that we consider character- 'istic of our invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its organization and its methods of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will best be understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawing in which,

Figure l is a front elevation of the device for lubricating a filament,

Figure 2 is an end view taken in cross-section on the line I-|, Figure 1,

Figure 3 is a front elevation of a modified form for the lubricating device, and

Figure 4 is an end view taken in cross-section on the line 2- -2, Figure 3.

Like references refer to corresponding parts in all of the figures.

Referring now to the drawing, the lubricating fluid L with which the filaments are to be treated is contained in a reservoir 5 which is shown as a cylindrical casing for enclosing the lubricant and the remaining structure of the device for the purpose of preventing any foreign matter from entering the bath of lubricant or the mechanism associated therewth. The roll 6, which will hereinafter be refe ed to as an applicator, is mounted to rotate within the reservoir 5 with its lower portion partially immersed in the lubricant L therein and to be driven by any suitable reservoir .5. As the applicator 6 rotates in the lubricant L, it picks up a film of said lubricant on its surface through capillary attraction. In practice it has been discovered that if the filament to belubricated is allowed to contact this 'means', not shown, hi'chisilocated outside, of the first mentioned film for lubricating purposes, an v undesirable drag is encountered by the filament due to the thickness of the film of lubricant thereon, and the filament is not lubricated evenly from inch to inch due to the non-uniformity of said film. Therefore, to overcome these difiiculties we provide an idler roll 1, Figure 1, which is supported in rolling contact with the applicator 6 by a bracket 8, whose supporting surfaces are inclined with respect to' the horizontal. When the idler roll I is supported by the inclined supporting surfaces of the bracket 8 the pressure of contact between the idler roll 1 and the applicator 6 is dependent upon the dead weight of said idler roll I in conjunction with a camming action that is supplied by the inclined supporting surfaces of the bracket 8. 1

Since the idler roll 1 is supported in rolling contact with the driven applicator, it follows that it will be rotated thereby and at the same time pick up a film of lubricant on its surface therefrom. The film of lubricant picked up by the idler roll 1 is made uniform and its thickness is controlled by the pressure of contact between the idler roll 1 and the applicator 6 dependent upon the weight of the idler roll 1 and its described supporting means 8, so that when a filament F passing through a suitable slot 9 in the casing of the reservoir 5 contacts the idler roll I, as shown in Figures 1 and 2, it is uniformly lubricated from inch to inch and the drag on said filament, due to the thickness of the film of lubricant on the surface of the idler roll I, is reduced to a minimumfor satisfactory application, the thickness of said film of lubricant being controllable by increasing or decreasing the weight of the idler roll 1 and by so doing increase or decrease the pressure of contact between the applicator 6 and the idler roll 'I. The number of filaments F thatcan be lubricated on any one device, as described, is limited only by the length of an applicator roll 6 that can be satisfactorily mounted and driven in a single reservoir and the number of slots 9 that can be conveniently spaced along this length of reservoir through which the filaments are given access to the idler roll.

In the specification and claims where filament is referred to We desire it to be understood as meaning either an individual filament or a bundle of more than one filament forming a thread or yarn. It is obvious that the number of filaments ,or threads is not material.

In the modified form'of 'device shown in Figure 3 and Figure 4 the reservoir 5 consists of a cylindrical casing the ends of which have a sector removed toform'a partition In which acts as a supporting means for the shafts II and. I2 of the applicator 6 and idler roll 1 respectively. In this form of the device the function of the applicator B and the idler roll I are substantially the same as in the form of device shown in Figures 1 and 2, namely that of controlling the uniformity and thickness of the film of lubricant contacted by the filament F, by virtue of the weight of the idler roll I, but in the latter form, the filament F is lubricated by contacting the surface of the applicator 6 instead of the surface of the idler roll I as in the former case. In this latter form the applicator 5 isrotatably driven within the reservoir 5 with its lower portion partially immersed in the lubricant L so that a 'film of said lubricant is picked up on its surface by capillary-attraction. In order to overcome the non-uniform character of this film of lubricant picked up by the applicator and to regulate its thickness prior to application to the filament F, an idler roll I is mounted in rolling contact with the surface of the applicator 6. The inclined portion l3 of the partitions l0 provide the supporting means for the idler roll I, and perform exactly the samepurpose as the inclined supporting surfaces of the supporting bracket 8 described in connection with the form of device shown inFigures l and 2, namely, to provide a camming action for allowing the pressure of contact between the two rolls 6 and I to be controlled by the weight of the idler roll 1. Therefore, the film of lubricant on the surface of the applicator 6 following the point contacted by the idler roll 1, when considered in direction of rotation shown by the arrow, will be uniform and of a desired thickness, controlled by the weight of the idler roll; so that when the filament F contacts the surface of the applicator 6, at the point shown in Figure 4, it will be evenly lubricated from inch to inch and the drag on the filament F caused by the thickness of the film of lubricant will be reduced to a minimum.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim is new and wish to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a device for lubricating a filament, the combination with a reservoir for the lubricating fluid, and a driven roll rotatably mounted and adapted to be partially immersed in the lubricating fluid, of an idler roll in rolling contact with said driven roll for controlling the application of lubricating fluid to the filaments, and a guiding means for guiding and supporting said idler roll and arranged so that the weight of said idler roll moves the same into rolling contact with said driven roll and controls the pressure of contact therebetween.

2. In a device for lubricating a filament, the combination with a reservoir for the lubricating fluid, and an applicator associated with said reservoir so as to receive a film of lubricating fiuid therefrom, of an idler roll suitably mounted in rolling contact with said applicator for receiving a film of lubricant therefrom to be applied to the filament, the supporting means for said idler roll comprising a bracket having inclined guiding surfaces for the idler roll, said bracket arranged so that said idler roll rides on said applicator by virtue of its weight to control the uniformity of the film to be transmitted to said filament.

3. In a device for lubricating a filament, the combination with a reservoir for the lubricating fluid, and a driven roll rotatably mounted and adapted to be partially immersed in the lubricant, of an idler roll for applying the lubricant to the filament, said idler roll being in rolling contact with said driven roll, and a guiding means for guiding and supporting said idler roll and arranged so that the weight of said idler roll moves the same into rolling contact with said driven roll and controls the uniformity of the film of lubricant on the following portion of said idler roll prior to application of said film of lubricant to the filament.

4. In a device for lubricating a filament, the combination with a reservoir for the lubricant, and a driven roll for applying the lubricant to the filament, said driven roll rotatably mounted and partially immersed in said lubricant, of an idler roll in rolling contact with said driven roll, and guiding means for guiding and supporting said idler roll and arranged so that the weight of said idler roll moves the same into contact with said driven roll to control the uniformity of the film of lubricant thereon in advance of the point of application of the film of lubricant to the filament. v

5. A device for lubricating a filament comprising a reservoir for the lubricant, a driven roll rotatably mounted and partially immersed in said lubricant so as to receive a film of lubricant therefrom to be applied to the filament, an idler roll, and a guiding means for guiding and supporting said idler roll above said driven roll and in rolling contact therewith, characterized by the fact that said idler roll is supported so that the pressure of contact between the rolls is controlled by the weight of said idler roll for controlling the uniformity of the film of lubricant prior to application to the filament.

6. In a device for lubricating a filament, the combination with a reservoir for the lubricating fluid, and a pair of rolls associated with said reservoir so as to receive a film of lubricant therefrom to be applied to the filament, of a guiding and supporting means adapted to guide one roll into contact with the other roll whereby the weight of said guided roll bearing against the other roll is adapted to control the uniformity of the lubricant.

CYRUS O. BUTLER, EDGAR G. GUENTHER. 

